A coalition of community partners from a variety of agencies, including Building Bright Futures, meets monthly as the Newport Building Flourishing Communities (BFC) committee. The vision of BFC is for the Northeast Kingdom to be a “vibrant, intergenerational community that supports courageous, caring, competent adults in the daily lives of every child”. The coalition seeks to build a common understanding of the impact of adversity/adverse childhood experiences (ACES) on brain development, which aligns with the BBF Regional Action plan goals and strategies. In July the group was invited to apply for a “Community Collaborative Learning” grant, through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We received a grant to hold a two-day learning summit with a focus on resilience, mindfulness and the creation of trauma-informed communities. The summit was held on September 13 & 14 at the Jay Peak Conference center and included over 70 community members, families and service providers from Orleans, Essex and Caledonia counties. At the conclusion of the summit, community members from each of the three counties were charged with choosing a community within the county to hold monthly potluck family-style dinner gatherings to continue the conversations and collaborative learning opportunities to create a sense of connection and belonging, as well as learning with individuals in their communities. Many of the core BFC committee members are also on the Orleans/NEssex BBF Regional Council. We are looking forward to the upcoming months as participants continue to share the knowledge with other community members throughout the Northeast Kingdom. We will have frequent updates regarding the monthly meetings at our regular BBF Regional Council meetings.
The Regional Council invited guests Charlie Gliserman, the new Public Engagement Director and Ann Latulippe from the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance to the August meeting, and in September, we hosted a training “Creating an Adoption Sensitive Early Childhood Classroom” presented by Janet Benoit Connor from the VT Consortium for Adoption and Guardianship. We are pleased to be able to offer Professional Development training hours to providers as a sponsor through Northern Lights at CCV.
BBF, Early Head Start(EHS), Children’s Integrated Services(CIS) and the Parent Child Center (PCC) in Newport are teaming up to offer developmental screenings at an upcoming PCC playgroup. Our first planning meeting is scheduled for the end of September. This is a priority activity in the regional action plan in accordance with grant requirements from Help Me Grow.
Upcoming Regional Council Meetings
The next Regional BBF Council meeting is scheduled for Monday October 7, 2019 at the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport from 1-2:30.
The November meeting will be on Monday November 4, 2019 at the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport from 1-2:30. Our guest will be Auburn Watersong, the new State Director of Trauma Prevention and Resilience Development, a topic that is a top priority in the regional action plan.
